On Thursday morning, May 9, again three houses were raided, and four people arrested under terrorism legislation in Derry. The four males, aged 15, 18, 38, 51, were taken to the Serious Crime Suite in Musgrave Station. [Mehr lesen…]

Over the past few days, graffiti emerged in parts of West Belfast, sending out a shivering message to former Irish Republican prisoner Danny McClean. One of these messages appeared on a gable wall on Lenadoon Avenue saying: “Danny McClean UDR RIP.”In early January, McClean’s stood trial for IRA memberships charges, accused of being a member of the paramilitary group Óglaigh na hÉireann. [Mehr lesen…]

The past five or so years were rather difficult for those conducting interviews in Ireland. Nonetheless, interviews remain an essential source for those of us researching political violence and the Northern Irish Troubles. [Mehr lesen…]

Former Provisional Shane Paul O’Doherty argued in this newspaper last week that republican inmates didn’t qualify as prisoners of war. Here, historian Dieter Reinisch says O’Doherty’s view is at odds with British Government policy throughout the 20th century.

In an article published in this newspaper on January 5, Shane Paul O’Doherty argued that “captured (IRA) combatants could never qualify as prisoners of war” because they “did not conduct military operations according to the laws and customs of war”. [Mehr lesen…]

The fact that Irish Republican prisoners are held in British prisons in the North of Ireland causes conflict for the Northern Ireland Prison Service. Irish Republicans are Irish Nationalists, thus, their national identity is suppressed during their imprisonment in the British State. [Mehr lesen…]